Apple and Samsung haven’t been the best of pals lately, but their cooperation is vital to ensure the manufacture of new iPhones and iPads, as Samsung makes a lot of parts for the devices. Apple may be looking to change all that as they switch manufacturer for their batteries.

Apple has tried in the past to reduce its reliance on the Korean manufacturer in the past by drafting the production of its components to other companies. Only recently Apple have just denied rumors that they were seeking to acquire displays from a company other than Samsung. However up until now, Samsung SDI has continued to make batteries for each revision of Apple products.

Although this may have not been Apple’s decision, and Samsung SDI themselves were reported to have stopped supplying Apple. It is unclear who sparked this decision, but combine this with Samsung’s decision to raise processor prices for Apple, after the Cupertino developer internalized part of the processor design process and removed design components for it's A-series processors out of Samsung’s reach. This is also corroborated by rumors that Apple has been preparing TSMC et al to take over future chip manufacture.

Conflicting reports exist, as Apple continue to deny rumors and Apple CEO Tim Cook himself stated during a recent conference call that Samsung would continue to be an important partner for Apple in the near future.

While there seems to be more rumor than hard facts about the split growing between the two companies, logically it makes sense, as endless legal battles force the Korean and American device makers further into bitter rivalry. However, Samsung’s huge manufacturing capacity will be hard to replace, so Apple may have to think twice in the end.